Iowa’s Egg Industry Facts

2018 Iowa Egg Industry Fact Sheet

Iowa’s egg farmers lead the nation in egg production, caring for nearly 55 million laying hens producing nearly 16 billion eggs per year. That’s almost one out of every six eggs produced in the United States!

Iowa’s egg industry feeds the state economy in a big way. The industry contributes about $2.4 billion in total sales, some 8,825 jobs, more than $502 million in personal wages and nearly $22.8 million in state tax revenues.

Per capita consumption is a measure of total egg production divided by the total population. It does not represent demand. (USDA has recently adjusted data to reflect 2000 Census figures.)

Per Capita Egg Consumption

1996 – 234.6

2004 – 257.1

2012 - 254.3

1997 – 235.6

2005 – 255.4

2013 - 258.2

1998 - 239.7

2006 – 258.1

2014 - 267.5

1999 – 249.8

2007 – 251.7

2015 - 256.3

2000 – 251.7

2008 - 248.3

2016 - 274.7

2001 – 252.8

2009 - 248.4

2017 - 274.2

2002 – 255.9

2010 - 249.3

2018 - 278.9 (est.)

2003 – 254.7

2011 - 249.9

Currently, the top ten egg producing states are:

(ranked by number of layers represented in thousands)

Iowa – 53,982

Indiana – 31,750

Ohio – 30,907

Pennsylvania – 26,731

Texas – 17,764

Michigan – 14,560

California – 14,367

Minnesota – 10,222

Georgia – 9,618

Nebraska – 7,388

As of Jan. 2018

U.S. Cage-Free

2018

2017

Flock:

15.63%

11.80%

Layers (millions)

50.23

37.60

USDA Organic:

4.50%

4.40%

Layers (millions)

14.55

14.10

Other Cage-Free:

11.10%

7.40%

Layers (millions)

35.68

23.50

Note: percentage of U.S. table egg layer flock.

Source: USDA Poultty Market News & Analysis

Egg Industry Statistics

The five largest egg producing states represent approximately 50 percent of all U.S. layers.

U.S. egg production during December 2017 was 9.07 billion table eggs.

Presently, there are approximately 55 egg producing companies with 1 million-plus layers that represent approximately 96 percent of total production and 18 companies with greater than 5 million layers.

To date, there are approximately 200 egg producing companies with flocks of 75,000 hens or more. These companies represent about 95 percent of all the layers in the United States. In 1987, there were around 2,500 operations. (Number of operations in 1987 include some contract farms and divisions.)

In 2017, the average number of egg-type laying hens in the United States was 315 million. Flock size for January 1, 2018 was 321 million layers, increasing from last year’s 319. Rate of lay per day on January 1, 2018, averaged 78.7 eggs per 100 layers, down from last year 80.5.

Of the 254.52 million cases (estimated) of shell eggs produced in 2017:

76.90 million cases (30.2 percent) were further processed into liquid or dried egg

Exports of processed egg products in 2017 was 100,520 tons (valued at $119.16 million), up 56 percent with respect to 2016. In 2017, the U.S. exported 1293 million shell eggs (valued at $114.62 million), down 5 percent with respect to 2016.

Of the total table egg shipments, 71 percent or 187.5 million dozen were shipped to the top five export markets – Canada (20%), Japan (20%), China (14%), Mexico (11%) and South Korea (6%).